Blood is Thicker than your Mistakes
by Nicolette-Whitlock
Summary: James wasn't killed in the book. He is back but, not here to kill Bella. And he has hazel eyes. Plus the fact that he's related to Carlisle. don't forget that. And, OH, YEAH. Victoria is GONE. May possible be slightly OCC.


_Blood is thicker than your mistakes. _

**AN: So. This ingenious idea hit me while I was lying in bed this morning. I was thinking of what I could do to the next chapter of a different fanfic I'm writing. I have sort of a writer's block on it. I have four chapters of it, (Only one has been added here). But anyways, the idea hit me. Not for that fanfic, but for a different one. A one-shot. I've never done one shot's so, well…first time, give me a break. I did check the archives. This idea has not been used before. The idea is this; what if James was not killed at the end of book one, or the movie? Just read. Oh. And he's related to Carlisle. James may seem a little more…fearful, or "weak". This is because of what happened when he ditched Victoria. **

**Chapter one:**

_James' POV: _

I felt remorse, but I doubted that would be enough. I had almost killed the Bella girl. By all rights, I should be dead. But I wasn't. I had….dumped Victoria, so to speak. She wasn't any good for me. She brought out the part in me, that I hoped to never see again. I took a deep breath, then instantly closed my mouth, and stopped breathing. Bad idea; I could smell human blood. Somewhere close by, someone was bleeding. If I wasn't careful, I might hurt them. I was getting used to this vegetarian lifestyle, as the Cullens called it, but this was still difficult for me. I still couldn't figure out how they could go so long….forever, without hurting any humans. This was like maddening torture, and starvation. But animal blood was not so bad. I had looked in the mirror this morning, and noticed my eyes were a hazel golden color.

I breathed a sigh of discontent. He would hate me. I had hurt his family by hurting the human, and it would not matter if we were related or not. I would no doubt still be a killer in his eyes, no doubt there. But he was still…family…. Was family the correct word? How can one who does not know you, be family? But he was. Could blood possibly be thicker than my many mistakes? No. I would not ask for forgiveness. I did not deserve it.

I walked slowly towards the house. They would kill me on sight. I walked with my head down, staring at my feet as I walked. I had headphones on; I was trying to concentrate on it. It was a distraction, incase any humans crossed my path. It was so I wouldn't hurt anyone. I was listening to "Time of dying" by Three Days Grace. Ironic, wasn't it?

I continued walking, and then, I walked straight into someone. Oh lord. It was the big one, that had tried to light me on fire. My eyes widened, as I backed away, quickly. Maybe he wouldn't recognize. Someone came up from behind me. The blonde woman. I was dead, then and there, they would kill me.

"Who are you?" the big one asked.

The woman sighed, and said, "Emmett, this is the scum that tried to kill Bella"

Emmett, as the blonde had called him, clenched his teeth, and asked, "You actually have the guts to come back here? You think you're going to come here and kill Bella now?" he snarled.

"No" I said, quickly, and slightly quietly. I would not attempt to intimidate either of them. That was not my goal, or the reason for my being here.

"Then what the hell do you want?" Rosalie snarled.

"You actually believe him??" Emmett said, exasperatedly.

"Sort of" Rosalie said. She seemed to be looking into my eyes.

"Rose, that's crazy! He just wants to kill Bella!"

Someone approached. I heard the light, quick footsteps. "Emmett, calm down" a voice said. I turned around, to see him. Edward Cullen. "You look very different" Edward said. He was right. At the moment, I had short hair. I had cut it short, in sort of a fohawk style. I was wearing a pair of jeans, and a dark blue button up shirt. I had mirrored sunglasses on, hiding my eyes. I wasn't bare foot, I was wearing combat boots. And my tags. I had been in the military before Victoria had turned me. All in all, I looked…completely different.

"Edward, incase you don't remember, he tried to kill your girlfriend" Emmett reminded him.

"And he regrets it. He isn't here to pick a fight. He is here to talk to Carlisle." Edward's eyes were locked on mine. I looked down, closing my eyes.

"and why should we let him talk to Carlisle?" Rosalie asked.

"Rose, do you really want me to answer that question?" Edward asked.

'Yes! I do, actually" Rosalie snapped.

"Fine. He is Carlisle's great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson" Edward said to Rosalie, glaring. I winced. Why couldn't he just not say that?

"Because, she wanted to know. She probably would have ended up tearing you apart if I hadn't told her" Edward said, while Rosalie stood there, looking stunned.

"But he still tried to kill BELLA!" she screeched. I winced again. Rosalie noticed. "What the hell are you so afraid of!?" she snapped.

I could have answered. I could have said, "You" but I kept silent. She looked very similar to Victoria. Why was I afraid of Victoria? Well…she had not been very happy when I'd told her I was finished with her. She had attacked me. I winced, remembering it. She had bitten me several times, and then abandoned me in a forest in Florida. And werewolves had come. I still had a very painful scar from Victoria's hardest bite on my neck, and a few from the wolves. I rested my right hand on my neck, and rubbed softly.

"DID YOU HEAR ME!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF!??" Rosalie screamed at me. Edward walked to Rosalie, and grabbed her wrists. "Edward let go" She seethed. I took a few steps back.

Edward whispered to Rosalie, while glaring down at her. The only words I caught were, "Afraid. Victoria. Looks like you."

Edward took his hands of Rosalie, and took a step back. Rosalie seemed, calmer now. She looked sorry. That was anew look for her, I could tell.

She sighed, and walked over to me, and grabbed my arm, pulling me. "C'mon, kid, lets go to the house" Did she just call me, KID?

"Yes, she did. You're…what, 19?" Edward stated. Emmett and Edward followed after Rosalie, who continued to pull on my arm.

_Alice's POV: _

I dialed Carlisle's cell phone. I already knew. I had told Edward. Edward had called me, and told me that James was not hostile. He explained it carefully. "Hello" came Carlisle's answer.

"Hi Carlisle"

"Oh. Hello Alice. What can I help you with?"

"James is coming" I said.

"What?" Carlisle said.

"Not for Bella. He's coming for you"

"WHAT!?" Carlisle said.

"Oh. I shouldn't have put it like that. James is coming to talk to you" I clarified

"Is that a good thing?" Carlisle asked.

I sighed. "Carlisle, I believe it is my job to tell you something VERY important, so you don't have a metaphorical heart attack when you find out later."

"And what would that be, Alice?" I asked.

"James is your great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandson." I stated, calmly.

I heard some sort of choking noise coming from the other end of the phone. "Are you kidding?" Carlisle asked me.

"No, I'm not. And don't act like it's such a horrible thing! He doesn't even drink human blood anymore, his eyes are golden" I said.

"Oh" he said. "Is Victoria with him?

"Nope. He decided she was bringing out the worst in him, and broke up with her, so to speak. And then she attacked him and left him to be torn apart by werewolves. But he's…okay. Just a little emotionally screwed up. He ran into Rose, and then….Emmett. But Edward told her to back off. See, to James, Rose looks kinda like Victoria, who he is VERY afraid of."

"I see" Carlisle responded calmly.

"So anyways, after Edward explained to Rose, she calmed down. Now she has James by the arm, and is bringing him back to the house, followed by Edward and Emmett"

"Am I to guess, that I should come home now?" he asked.

"That might be a good idea."

"I'll be back soon then" he said, and hung up.

After Carlisle hung up, Rosalie entered the house, pulling James. Edward followed, and then Emmett.

Esme came down the stairs, and saw James. He was obviously uncomfortable. He was struggling, to get away from Rosalie's grip, he wanted to leave. Jasper entered. "Calm him down, please, Jazz?" I asked. Jasper nodded, and a wave of calm swept over the room.

Esme seemed alarmed. I forgot to explain to her what was going on. I walked over to her. "I'll explain" I said, and she followed me up the stairs.

"What exactly is he doing here??"

"He doesn't hurt people anymore. He drinks animal blood. He was coming to talk to Carlisle, but then Rosalie ran into him in the woods. Edward……found something out, while reading James' mind. He's…he's a relative of Carlisle's" I said.

"What?" she asked.

"James is Carlisle great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson……and…he just wanted to tell Carlisle his family line hadn't died out. Not that James wants to stay here. He is afraid of Rosalie. He just wanted to tell Carlisle. He also wanted to apologize for any problems he caused, and then leave. He is slightly suicidal at the moment" Edward said, as he came up the stairs, into the hallway.

"That is….interesting" Esme said

"I already called Carlisle….Edward, is Jasper keeping James calm?"

"Yes, but he is having a hard time of doing that. James is very afraid of Rosalie."

"Well that's because she looks like Victoria, and Victoria hurt James!" I stated.

Suddenly, Rosalie was upstairs. "I'm going shopping, since he's so afraid. He won't stop staring at me. Like he's waiting for me to attack or something"

"He IS waiting for you to attack Rose." Edward stated.

"Why would I…I mean, I know I was a little hostile at first, but I calmed down…."

"But he is still afraid"

"Well, tell him I'm gone for a while then. And get him to change into something nicer, he looks a mess"

"Oh, you know me Rose, I can handle that!" I said cheerfully. Rose smiled lightly, and walked away, shaking her head, I heard her in the garage, and then her car took off. She was gone for a while.

"Okay……..Edward, get Jasper" I said. Edward nodded, sighing, and walked away.

-------

A few minutes later, Edward was back. Esme had gone back to what she was doing, and Emmett was keeping his eyes on James.

I nodded to Edward, _'go keep an eye on James with Emmett'_ I thought. Edward nodded, and walked off.

"Jasper, do you have anything you think might fit James?" I asked. He smiled.

"You really want to make this work out, don't you?" he asked.

"Well, he is Carlisle's family, and so that makes him sort of our family. So….yeah, I do want this to work. He is repentant, and I've already seen his apology. He really means it Jazz. Do, do you have anything that might fit him?"

"Yes. And I'm sure you want to pick out his outfit." Jasper sighed, shaking his head.

"If I can" I said sweetly. Jasper lifted me up, and set me on his shoulders. I giggled, as he walked to his room.

Jasper set me down, and opened the closet, showing me what he thought would fit James. I picked out a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt. Whatever; I'd buy him more clothing soon.

_James' POV:_

Emmett had told me to sit down. I was calm for some reason. I should have been freaking out. I still didn't want to sit down. "Sit" he repeated, motioning at the couch. I shook my head, looking down. I didn't want to sit down.

Jasper entered the room, and looked at me. "Just sit down. All you're succeeding in doing is irritating me, kid" Emmett stated. I sat down, quietly. I was not a kid. I put my headphones back on, and stared at the floor.

Jasper and Emmett were each on one side of me. Edward had left awhile ago. I heard a door opening, and looked up. Carlisle. I looked back down instantly, closing my eyes. Carlisle nodded his head at me, meaning for me to follow him. I did so quietly, without hesitation. He led me up a flight of stairs, and into an office like room.

"Please sit" he said, slightly dazed, motioning at a couch. I sat down, still not looking at Carlisle.

"I….have something I have to tell you" I started.

"Go ahead" he said. I didn't know how exactly to tell him. It was confusing. So I took out a medium sized piece of thick paper. It was old, and had been added to, since the 16th century. A family tree; there were several pictures on it, small ones, with names and dates scrawled in tiny writing, or unreadable writing, even some interesting calligraphy. Carlisle was near the top of the tree…it wasn't really a tree; it was more like a table. From Carlisle's picture, a line was drawn to another picture, one of a woman that went by the name of Elizabeth. A line was drawn diagonally from Carlisle's picture, and one from Elizabeth's photo, the two lines met at the same place, an image of a man, who looked to be in his 20's. Below, his name was scrawled below it, and so was his date of birth and of death. There were more images, and more lines, and some of it hade faded out almost completely. Carlisle was looking at the bottom now. My father's image was there, a line drawn to my mother's, then a line drawn from each of their photo's, to my sister's photo, and then to my photo.

Carlisle looked up, straight into my eyes. I looked down. "James" He started. "James" he repeated. He sighed. "Please, look at me when I am speaking to you, James" I looked up. "Please take of the sunglasses" Carlisle stated. I took them off slowly, revealing my hazel eyes. I closed my eyes again, and looked away. "James" he said, his voice slightly sharp. My eyes flashed to his.

He sighed. "James, how long have you been…..how long have you not been drinking……human blood?" he asked.

"A month" I answered quietly. "It's….hard"

He just nodded. "How long ago did Victoria-" he stopped speaking when he saw the look on my face. My eyes had grown wide. My hand flew instantly to the painful scar on my neck, and I winced. Carlisle had been leaning against his desk, but now came forward. "What is it?" he asked.

I took a deep breath, though I didn't need to. I slowly unbuttoned the top button of my shirt, and moved the material, showing the place where Victoria had done the most damage. She had, had a tooth of a vampire, and dragged it across my chest. She had then bent down, biting, and putting a large amount of venom into the cut.

"Oh my" Carlisle said, looking at the scar closely. He touched it, not like poking it, just….like looking at it with his hands. I winced, and then jerked away. One of my hostile moments. I hated being touched, by anyone.

Carlisle withdrew, and asked, "How old are you?"

"In human years…..or….."

"both, if possible."

"I am 19 years old. I was…turned…one year ago" I said quietly, then looked down.

"I will be back, momentarily. I need to talk with….." he trailed off. I nodded quietly. He walked out of the room, and closed the door slowly. I quickly buttoned my shirt back up, and waited.

_Alice's POV:_

I was sitting on the couch, next to Jasper. Edward had come in, and so had Rosalie. Everyone had seated themselves, and was waiting for Carlisle, who had just walked down the stairs.

"Alice, don't ask that kind of question" Edward sighed, no doubt he had read my mind.

"Why not?" I asked, brightly.

"James is not a dog" I rolled my eyes at that remark.

"Of course he's not, silly."

"So don't ask that question"

"I will if I want" I pouted. Edward rolled his eyes, and I turned back to Carlisle, everyone was staring at either Carlisle, or me. "Can we keep James?" I asked. Emmett burst out laughing. "PLEASSE PLEASE PLEEAASE Carlisle??" I begged.

Carlisle sighed. "I was hoping we could take a vote" he said.

"A vote for what? If we keep James as a pet?" Rosalie asked, smirking at me.

"No, Rosalie. If he became a part of the family."

"No" and "yes" were instantly said by Emmett and Rosalie.

"What do you mean, YES?" Rosalie snarled at Emmett.

"Hey, he wants to change, its only fair to give him a chance Rose"

"Edward, he tried to kill your girl friend, what do YOU think?" Rosalie snapped.

"I think…..that Bella will understand. I also think that if any of you had tried to kill her, you would have felt just as horrible as James. I agree with Emmett"

"I agree as well" Jasper said. I hugged him really hard.

Everyone turned to Esme. "Dear?" Carlisle asked gently.

"I think…..we should give him a chance, but we need to be careful with his opportunities to be near Bella."

------------

So it was agreed. If James would stay, we would have him. I was pleased. "Okay, Carlisle, can I PLEASE go get him now?? I want to get his measurements, because I refuse to see him walk around in that same pair of jeans and that same shirt his entire time here" I stated.

"we have to ask him if he wants to stay first, Alice" Carlisle told me.

"but I already KNOWWW" I said, bouncing on my heels. "he's gonna say yes! I saw!"

"You still have to ask, Alice, dear." Esme said softly. I sighed.

"Fine, then I'll go ask him. Can I do THAT Carlisle?" Carlisle nodded, and I ran off up the stairs.

I burst into Carlisle's office, and said in a rush to James, "hey, so we want you to stay with us, do you wanna, you're going to say yes, I ALREADY KNOW!! So just say it!"

James' eyes widened. I had freaked him out. Woops! "Uh…..will you stop…..talking in that high pitched…loud voice if I say yes?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes" he replied.

"Good, come on! I need to get your measurements for clothes now! C'mon!" And I pulled him to his feet.

* * *

**Okay, so that MIGHT have been a **_**little**_** ooc. I apologize for that. Anyways…..yeah, I know. Edward probably would have torn James apart when seeing him. I'll understand if anyone who read this hated it. I might make it more than a one shot…if people liked it. Anyways, review…..ask me questions, and I'll answer them. Erg, I know some of you fan girls will flip and be like, "YOU CUT JAMES' HAIR!? WTF!???" and I apologize. Get over it, REVIEW! Please. I wrote this all in one day, take that into consideration! **


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